Such a sensuous experience, traveling in a rattling slow train with its windows open - immersed in sounds that smell like iron , sounds that feel like sheer wheezing speed. Never will an air-conditioned, shock-proof fast train be able to match this physical sensation of speed in a jangling local train.
I don’t suppose Bach has written any of his cantatas to be heard on a continuous bass of a rumbling train. But devoutly straining to follow the intertwining lines of a violin and an alto voice - instrument & human voice become interchangeable. And completely captive to these voices, it then hardly matters anymore whether the buzz of the basso continuo is the rumble of a train or of an organ.
6 comments:
so true, :-) nothing can compare with a leisurely train journey...though its been quite some time since my last/
highly recommended - a local train ride through the Indian countryside - a sumptous feast for the senses, if one is feeling adventurous enough, that is. you, my dear friend, would enjoy it, I think. :-)
sumptuous train feast sounds very tempting - but how about an illustrated travelogue from an experienced guide before sending out a timid city-flaneur into the heat (my sources speak of 40°C!) and amongst the ants (my sources show they are HUGE!) ;-)
oh yes, trains, my true and eternal love... and that mystery of my childhood, the "continuous bass of the rumbling train" in my ears, my head, my whole body, after I arrived home, the bed swinging, the images of the journey sweetly drifting away, how well the sleep tasted then :-)
@R - à la recherche des trains perdus :-)
Indeed, a love of trains is born in childhood, as is an enduring faith in their promises --- (cars somehow lack this lost paradise romance)
:-D the travelogue will reach you one day. and the ants are quite amiable, contrary to what your sources may have suggested.
:-D oh of course, if they're amiable ants! maybe my (otherwise very reliable) source just caught a particularly fearsome looking specimen
Post a Comment